A building to put the sign up
by sanctuary fan
Summary: Just an introspect on Lightman and Foster's relationship.


**A building to put the sign up**

Foster is nice to people, Lightman isn't; she generally has people skills, he doesn't. The Lightman Group work well together mainly due to her being a liaison between them above all their knowledge and experience.

Foster is classy, Lightman is a jerk; she always smiles, he is usually in a bad mood; she says "please", "thank you" and "good job", he grins ironically and superior. Foster always stands by him, Lightman usually puts her in embarrassing situations and lets her hanging.

Torres wonders most of the time why Foster is so loyal to Lightman, especially when she has to bail him and the Lightman Group out of the messes he makes. Loker doesn't wonder, he knows this is the case and doesn't care for the motives as long as Foster is willing to work to keep Lightman on a straight path (more or less). Torres on the other hand is a woman and she needs to understand why Foster protects Lightman so much. She knows all the times Lightman has lied to Foster and put her in awkward situations and disrespected her, most of the time in front of their employees. He lashed out at Foster in front of them and she just kept her cool, showed no sign of anger and even laughed a couple of times. They have always respected Foster for that and for her care.

Foster loves Christmas, Lightman couldn't care less about the holidays. He knows she will always make him attend Christmas parties with the employees and hates her for that because he has to make nice for her. He is sure she gets a kick out of it every time. But it's a small price to pay for her good mood and he pays it gladly.

Lightman is jealous on her lovers, Foster is jealous on his lovers and neither of them hides this fact. They flirt in private as much as she allows it, he flirts sometimes in public just to annoy her and embarrass people around them, but she always shuts him up with dignity. He knows she is the one who imposes a line between them not to be crossed and he depends on her to respect that line. He actually hopes that one day she will erase the line and sleep with him as he fantasizes sometimes. He knows that will be the day when their friendship will die and Foster will eventually leave because he will keep disappointing her even on a different level. Foster instead likes the dynamic between them. She needs him close, but she also needs her space. He missed so many opportunities when she would have slept with him just to feel something and she was glad he respected the line. She still has moments when she thinks sleeping with Lightman is the next step, but she won't take that step because she knows him. He likes challenges and as long as she doesn't sleep with her she will be a challenge, and this works for both them and the Lightman Group. Being a challenge for him also means she has some margin of authority over him without which his imposed self-control will be close to nonexistent. They are too close to consider sex as a coronation of their relationship, rather than the beginning of the end for it. That's why the line is there and Foster makes sure he also respects it.

He owes her his sanity, even his wife left him, but she stayed to pick up the pieces and mend him. She knows him better than everyone else and it scares him. He acts all tough, but she knows it's an act meant to hide the fact that he needs her. So, she is there for him whenever he allows it.

He is also there for her. He would always be there for her but sometimes she brings up that god damn line and shuts him out and it's his fault because he can't stop reading her and putting her feelings on display even when she just needs a shoulder and nothing else. So she got better on hiding her emotions and letting them out only when she wanted. He sometimes gets tired to hear her "I'm fine" answer even when tears are running down her cheeks so he pushes for another answer that he knows now he will never get (after so many years…). So he's also trying to learn to just shut up and hug her until she stops crying.

She gets angry with him because he does things to make her angry on purpose. She doesn't understand that, because she can't do that to a friend. She just puts it to "it's his way" category. She often thinks about the time when she won't be so willing to put up with "his way" anymore. She will leave then with a hug and a kiss on his cheek, as classy as ever.

"You know I love you" he told Foster once, after a hard case for the both of them, when eventually he succeeded to push her buttons. He needed her to hear the words out loud.

"I know" she answered with no emotion in her beautiful blue eyes. "You are also my best friend" she continued and smiled but the smile never got to her eyes. She knew he was trying to read her and she saw confusion in his eyes. "You needed to hear yourself say those words more than me. And you did…"

She closed the space between them and hugged him for a long time. He hugged her back.

"If you weren't such a smart ass I would invite you to dinner" he whispered in her ear.

She looked at him then kissed his cheek. "If I wasn't such a smart ass you wouldn't have a building to put up your sign. You should remember that from time to time. Good night Cal"

"Are we OK?" he asked.

She turned around to face him. The time to leave with a classy hug and a kiss on the cheek wouldn't be arriving as long as he would show some sign of remorse about pissing her off.

"We're OK" she said and smiled. And that time the smile reached her eyes.

"Good night luv"


End file.
